Pioneer VSX-D608

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Pioneer VSX-D608
Are you looking for a deal in an AV receiver with Dolby Digital? Have you been considering an AV receiver with DTS decoding, but can't stomach the $600.00 and up prices? Pioneer has answered our prayers for a low cost, high quality AV receiver, that is also capable of Dolby Digital and DTS decoding!

I just purchased my VSX-D608 from Circut City for $369.99(sealed box)and it is outstanding! Great power with crisp surround sound, numerous inputs including 3 optical inputs, banana speaker connections, universal remote and a host of other features. It's a perfect match to my Pioneer DV-414 DVD player ($299) and altogether, their cost was equal or less than comparable receivers alone!

The only drawback with the unit, is a slight lack of bass response when using a passive subwoofer. This drawback is marginal and an adjustment in it's settings or an addition of a powered subwoofer, may solve this issue.

Before I found this unit, I thought the TEAC AG-D9100 for $249.99 was the best deal for a receiver with Dolby Digital, but for the extra $120.00, I got a lot more receiver plus DTS decoding.

Without a doubt, I vote this one a "10" in my book.

Check it out at "http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/home/vsx-d608.htm".

Ray Evans
San Mateo, C

Overall Rating: 10
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Pioneer VSX-D608
this unit has it all - I got mine from www.sounddistributors.com for $365.00
4 optical inputs. s-video switching. preamp outs. center channel out, sub out. Its got everything needed for a great home theater receiver. Fot the money you can not beat it...

Overall Rating: 10
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Pioneer VSX-D608
I got it brand new in box w/ manual & all for 299.95 in a local store.
it is an okay receiver but the remote is a cheap sucker.

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Pioneer VSX-D608
Very Impressive sound and loaded with features for the money. A great deal, I would not hesitate recommending this receiver to anyone. With this unit you will get a lot of bang for the buck. I'm Impressed,other brands take note this is the one to beat for less than $400.00 in my opinion.

Overall Rating: 10
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Pioneer VSX-D608
Awesome features and sound. Struggling with trying to get the DTS to work right.

Overall Rating: 9
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Pioneer VSX-D608
Purchase mine locally for 320.00 by bargaining with the sales rep from 6th Ave Electronics. Paired off with a set of Paradigm Mini Monitors, CC350, AR SP112 sub, and ADP-170 surround sound and Pioneer DVD-414. Great sound on DTS.....
amazing clarity, for a tight budget HI-FI enthusiast I definately recommend the Pioneer 608.

Overall Rating: 8
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Pioneer VSX-D608
The 608 is a low budget workhorse that will take you into the new millenium 'fiber optic ready'. Waiting on Dish Network to catch up with me now with more Dolby Digital audio feeds( only 2 movie channels right now).The Dolby Surround is quite adequate for now till there is enough readily available and cheap Dolby Digital source material to feed it with. 5-D Theater And Midnite mode are the two neatest settings. 5-D does quite a good job of simulating Dolby Digital with no DVD investment from the owner. Recommend no one buy DVD yet because the current models wont handle DVD audio which is coming in early 2000.THis receiver will keep u a couple generations ahead in audio for a while.

Overall Rating: 9
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Pioneer VSX-D608
Hey I forgot. SupremeVideo.Com has it for 319.00. Best buy on the net.

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Pioneer VSX-D608
http://hometheatermag.com/htn2/ht199910/cheapc1.htm

They give it the "hot choice" award. I got one and it is awesome.

Overall Rating: 10
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Pioneer VSX-D608
tengo un vsx-305 realmente estoy muy contento con el, lo tengo conectado con television por satelite directv excelente para mis conocimientos.

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Pioneer VSX-D608
It's really a good receiver for that price ($320), has S-VHS in all inputs, good remote, but has less power than Pioneer states.
5 A/V inputs, that's great.

Overall Rating: 9
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Pioneer VSX-D608
This thing rocks, I bought mine for $249 of SupremeVideo.com. IT has all the goodies I could want and I got it at a great price too. My dorm room is rockin all the time thanks to my killer receiver. Go out and buy the Pioneer VSX-608, you'll be glad you did.

Overall Rating: 10
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Pioneer VSX-D608
Great for the money!

Overall Rating: 10
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Pioneer VSX-D608
I'm attaching a review I wrote of this unit at www.audioreview.com:

It seems that this receiver is one of the more volatile items of review at this site. Opinions are decidedly positive, or negative, with very little "grey area" in between. I have used, and enjoyed this receiver since mid November, 1999 with only a small number of "nit-picky quirks" having surfaced to minutely tarnish an otherwise flawless LESS THAN $600 RECEIVER.

The reason for all caps?

This receiver is being maligned mercilessly by both informed (and not-so-informed) reviewers at this site, primarily comparing it to receivers FAR outside it's price class. Then, of course, the one or two sentence tirades of the ignorant, proclaiming nothing more than "it doesn't use binding posts for the surround outputs, so it SUUUCKS!!!!" speak volumes for themselves...one can only hope these people grow up, or change hobbies.

The squabbles over the lack of power seem to center around Pioneer's use of what is most likely a linear taper volume control, as opposed to a more conventional audio taper. Practically all of the useable output from this receiver happens from -40 to -10...yes, this did take a bit of getting used to, after having an older HK receiver that went from nothing to almost full output by barely raising the level past 1-3, and then not producing much more beyond that. I much prefer the Pioneer scheme.

Lack of bass seems to be of primary concern. The Pioneer more than likely uses a smaller power transformer than it's more expensive brethen, therefore limiting transient peak output, but, there again, most people will opt to use a power subwoofer for home theatre (have you noticed how many of those cute sub/sat systems have popped up in the last year alone??), thereby substantially reducing the strain on the receiver. Also, I get the idea that most of the negative comments concerning lack of bass (or rather, the perceived lack of bass response) comes from mis-management of the bass management menu on the receiver. Again, I have absolutely no complaints concerning output from this unit.

I completely take exception with one reveiver claiming that the buttons were so flimsy he was afraid he was going to push them through the back of the receiver. This unit is constructed every bit as well as a 20+ year old Harmon Kardon amp I have on standby. Granted, I don't care for Pioneer's use of chromed plastic on some of the buttons, notably the Dolby/DTS selector, but...they're solid.

Most reviewers of this unit have used very colorful descriptions of the sound quality (to put it mildly), but few have done so without reverting to using either "wonderful" or "sucks" somewhere in their writing. Excuse me, but the last time I checked, the primary function of an amplifier was to take a low powered signal, magnify (amplify...get it?), adding as little in the way of coloration, artifacts or distortion as possible. Using several "Telarc" discs, and the ever-present Jennifer Warnes "Famous Blue Raincoat", I can happily say I hear nothing painfully distracting going on...the Pioneer has a somewhat "bright" character to it, but it's not fatiguing at all (unless you're trying to recreate "Live At Leeds" in your living room). Moving to DVD's, I really think this is where the 608 shows it's charm. The soundtrack for "2001: A Space Odyssey" has a lush depth to it; The intro to "Shakespeake In Love" also comes across beautifully. Bombastic affairs such as "Saving Private Ryan" come off fairly accurate too, with the diagonal cross-fire in the beginning battle sequence trackly perfectly.

The DSP fields offered by the 608 run the gamut from useable to inexcusable, which is typically the case for all receivers, regardless of cost. The "5-D Theatre" works well with Pro-Logic material (possibly a less-sophisticated version of THX decorrelation?)
I frankly couldn't be happier with this unit...it offers solid sound, good performance, a good setup menu, and features galore. True, it has a few quirks (a learning remote would have been nice, and more traditional subwoofer points...though I'm not entirely sure the difference between 80hz and 100hz is all that arguable at the $550 price point), but all-in-all, it's a remarkable value.

Overall Rating: 9
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Pioneer VSX-D608
I have had this reciever for about a year know and haven't had any real problems with it. At first i thought as many other people about it not having enough bass but know i think different. I am a college student and my system has as much or more bass then the other people on my campus with serious systems. My whole system runs off of opticals which makes a different. At first I had the cd player running from the coax cable. The day that i changed it I notice a big difference in the fullness of the system. I have been around audio equipment all of my life everything from car steros to $300,000 production studio's and must say that I would take my system over the production studio. The speakers that I have hooked up to the system are Optimus yes Optimus and are better sounding the KLH, NHT, Infinity, and Bose that I have used on this system for test. I would take my system over most other systems that I have tested or owned. Especially since the whole thing cost me less then $500 including my speakers. All New

Overall Rating: 9
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Pioneer VSX-D608
My pioneer vsx-d608 kicked ass until i blew sumthin in da reciever, now it wont play and i have to buy a brand new one, oh well da sizznit wuz fun while it lasted

Overall Rating: No Vote
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Pioneer VSX-D608
Great product , very basic to operate. A good reciever for people looking for a good sound without the huge expense.
Bass can be a little disappointing, just add a sub like a sony sw-40 & the problem disappears.Remember a sub is required anyway to achieve the 5.1 surround sound.
Plenty of power for an average living room & of course the neighbour's!!

Happy Customer..

Overall Rating: 8
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
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